2014 -- S 2290 AS AMENDED

========

LC004036

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

____________

A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR -- APPRENTICESHIP

     

     Introduced By: Senators Miller, Gallo, Doyle, Jabour, and Satchell

     Date Introduced: February 04, 2014

     Referred To: Senate Labor

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

1

     SECTION 1. Section 37-13-3.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 37-13 entitled "Labor

2

and Payment of Debts by Contractors" is hereby repealed.

3

     37-13-3.1. State public works contract apprenticeship requirements. --

4

Notwithstanding any laws to the contrary, all general contractors and subcontractors who perform

5

work on any public works contract awarded by the state after passage of this act and valued at one

6

million dollars ($1,000,000) or more shall employ apprentices required for the performance of the

7

awarded contract. The number of apprentices shall comply with the apprentice to journeyman

8

ratio for each trade approved by the apprenticeship council of the department of labor and

9

training.

10

     SECTION 2. Chapter 37-13 of the General Laws entitled "Labor and Payment of Debts

11

by Contractors" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

12

     37-13-3.2. Public works contract apprenticeship requirements. -- (a) Notwithstanding

13

any laws to the contrary, all specifications in any invitations to bid in any public works contract

14

awarded by the state, any municipality or quasi-governmental agency valued at one million

15

dollars ($1,000,000) or more shall include a requirement that all bidders responding to an

16

invitation to bid on a public works project shall have an apprenticeship program as defined herein

17

for all apprenticeable crafts that will be employed on the project at the time of bid, and that no

18

less than ten percent (10%) of the labor hours worked on the project shall be performed by

19

apprentices in these programs. The provisions of the section shall only apply to contractors and

 

1

subcontractors with five (5) or more employees. For purposes of this section, an apprenticeship

2

program is one that:

3

     (1) Is non-provisionally registered with and approved by the United States Department of

4

Labor in conformance with 29 C.F.R. 29 and 29 C.F.R.30; and

5

     (b) Upon petition by a contractor in writing, a user agency may lower the ten percent

6

(10%) apprenticeship requirement of this section for a specific project for the following reasons:

7

     (1) The demonstrated lack of availability of apprentices in specific geographic areas; or

8

     (2) A written determination by the user agency that compliance is unduly cost

9

prohibitive; or

10

     (3) That participating contractors have demonstrated a good faith effort to comply with

11

the requirements of this section but have not been able to attain the ten percent (10%)

12

requirement.

13

     (c) The department of labor and training must provide information and technical

14

assistance to affected governmental, quasi-governmental agencies, and any contractors awarded

15

any public works projects relative to their obligations under this statute.

16

     (d) Any contractor and/or subcontractor awarded a public works contract shall collect and

17

submit the following data for each project covered by this section to the user agency on certified

18

payroll forms as required by § 37-13-13:

19

     (1) The name and dollar value of the project that they are working on;

20

     (2) The name of each apprentice categorized by trade or craft, their apprentice

21

registration number, and the number of hours they have worked on the project;

22

     (3) The name of each journey level worker categorized by trade or craft and the number

23

of hours they have worked on the project; and

24

     (4) If applicable, the number, type, and rationale for the exceptions granted.

25

     (e) The user agency shall withhold the next scheduled payment to any contractor or

26

subcontractor who does not submit the information required by the provisions of this statute and

27

shall also notify the director of labor and training of the contractor's noncompliance. The user

28

agency shall withhold final payment until all of the provisions of this section are complied with.

29

     (f) The department of labor and training may also impose a penalty of up to five hundred

30

dollars ($500) for each calendar day of noncompliance with this section, as determined by the

31

director of labor and training. Mere errors and/or omissions shall not be grounds for imposing a

32

penalty under this subsection.

33

     (g) Any penalties assessed under this statute shall be paid to the department of labor and

34

training dedicated "prevailing wages enforcement fund."

 

LC004036 - Page 2 of 6

1

     (h) Failure of the contractors and subcontractors required to utilize apprentices or be

2

exempted shall be considered a material breach of their public works contract and they shall be

3

subject to any and all penalties that a material breach is responsible for in their contract with the

4

user agency.

5

     (i) To the extent that any of the provisions contained in § 37-13-3.2 conflict with the

6

requirements for federal-aid contracts, federal law and regulations shall control.

7

     (j) For the purposes of this section the term "user agency" shall mean the state,

8

municipality, or quasi-governmental agency which is responsible for management of a public

9

works contract awarded to a contractor.

10

     (k) The director of the department of administration shall establish an apprenticeship

11

utilization advisory committee. The committee shall include the director of the department of

12

administration, or his/her designee, the director of the department of labor and training, or his/her

13

designee, a representative of the apprenticeship council of the state apprenticeship agency, the

14

executive director of the Rhode Island league of cities and towns, or his/her designee, and at least

15

one member representing contractor businesses with less than thirty-five (35) employees to be

16

designated by the governor. The advisory committee shall meet regularly to discuss and inform

17

the implementation of this section by the state and provide parameters for an analysis of

18

implementation of this section during the period of January 1, 2015 to January 1, 2016. The

19

committee shall provide a report to the general assembly by April 1, 2016 on the effects of the

20

apprenticeship labor requirement on public works projects and on the availability of apprentice

21

labor and programs statewide.

22

     SECTION 3. Section 37-13-14.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 37-13 entitled "Labor

23

and Payment of Debts by Contractors" is hereby amended to read as follows:

24

     37-13-14.1. Enforcement -- Hearings. -- (a) Before issuing an order or determination,

25

the director of labor and training shall order a hearing thereon at a time and place to be specified,

26

and shall give notice thereof, together with a copy of the complaint or the purpose thereof, or a

27

statement of the facts disclosed upon investigation, which notice shall be served personally or by

28

mail on any person, firm, or corporation affected thereby. The person, firm, or corporation shall

29

have an opportunity to be heard in respect to the matters complained of at the time and place

30

specified in the notice, which time shall be not less than five (5) days from the service of the

31

notice personally or by mail. The hearing shall be held within ten (10) days from the order of

32

hearing. The hearing shall be conducted by the director of labor and training or his or her

33

designee. The hearing officer in the hearing shall be deemed to be acting in a judicial capacity,

34

and shall have the right to issue subpoenas, administer oaths, and examine witnesses. The

 

LC004036 - Page 3 of 6

1

enforcement of a subpoena issued under this section shall be regulated by Rhode Island civil

2

practice law and rules. The hearing shall be expeditiously conducted and upon such hearing the

3

hearing officer shall determine the issues raised thereon and shall make a determination and enter

4

an order within ten (10) days of the close of the hearing, and forthwith serve a copy of the order,

5

with a notice of the filing thereof, upon the parties to the proceeding, personally or by mail. The

6

order shall dismiss the charges or direct payment of wages or supplements found to be due,

7

including interest at the rate of twelve percentum (12%) per annum from the date of the

8

underpayment to the date of payment, and may direct payment of reasonable attorney's fees and

9

costs to the complaining party.

10

      (b) In addition to directing payment of wages or supplements including interest found to

11

be due, the order shall also require payment of a further sum as a civil penalty in an amount up to

12

three times the total amount found to be due. Further, if the amount of salary owed to an

13

employee pursuant to this chapter but not paid to the employee in violation of thereof exceeds

14

five thousand dollars ($5,000), it shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be referred to the office

15

of the attorney general. The misdemeanor shall be punishable for a period of not more than one

16

year in prison and/or fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). In assessing the amount

17

of the penalty, due consideration shall be given to the size of the employer's business, the good

18

faith of the employer, the gravity of the violation, the history of previous violations and the

19

failure to comply with recordkeeping or other nonwage requirements. The surety of the person,

20

firm, or corporation found to be in violation of the provisions of this chapter shall be bound to

21

pay any penalties assessed on such person, firm, or corporation. The penalty shall be paid to the

22

department of labor and training for deposit in the state treasury; provided, however, it is hereby

23

provided that the general treasurer shall establish a dedicated "prevailing wages enforcement

24

fund" for the purpose of depositing the penalties paid as provided herein. There is hereby

25

appropriated to the annual budget of the department of labor and training the amount of the fund

26

collected annually under this section, to be used at the direction of the director of labor and

27

training for the sole purpose of enforcing prevailing wage rates as provided in this chapter.

28

      (c) For the purposes of this chapter, each day or part thereof of violation of any provision

29

of this chapter by a person, firm, or corporation, whether the violation is continuous or

30

intermittent, shall constitute a separate and succeeding violation.

31

      (d) In addition to the above, any person, firm, or corporation found in violation of any of

32

the provisions of this chapter by the director of labor and training, an awarding authority, or the

33

hearing officer, shall be ineligible to bid on or be awarded work by an awarding authority or

34

perform any such work for a period of no less than eighteen (18) months and no more than thirty-

 

LC004036 - Page 4 of 6

1

six (36) months from the date of the order entered by the hearing officer. Once a person, firm, or

2

corporation is found to be in violation of this chapter, all pending bids with any awarding

3

authority shall be revoked, and any bid awarded by an awarding authority prior to the

4

commencement of the work shall also be revoked.

5

      (e) In addition to the above, any person, firm, or corporation found to have committed

6

two (2) or more willful violations in any period of eighteen (18) months of any of the provisions

7

of this chapter by the hearing officer, which violations are not arising from the same incident,

8

shall be ineligible to bid on or be awarded work by an awarding authority or perform any work

9

for a period of sixty (60) months from the date of the second violation.

10

      (f) The order of the hearing officer shall remain in full force and effect unless stayed by

11

order of the superior court.

12

      (g) The director of labor and training, awarding authority, or hearing officer shall notify

13

the bonding company of any person, firm, or corporation suspected of violating any section of

14

this chapter. The notice shall be mailed certified mail, and shall enumerate the alleged violations

15

being investigated.

16

      (h) In addition to the above, any person, firm, or corporation found to have willfully

17

made a false or fraudulent representation on certified payroll records or in reporting their

18

apprenticeship information to any governmental agency shall be referred to the office of the

19

attorney general. The false or fraudulent representation shall be considered a misdemeanor and

20

shall be punishable for a period of not more than one year in prison and/or fined one thousand

21

dollars ($1,000). Further, any person, firm, or corporation found to have willfully made a false or

22

fraudulent representation on certified payroll records shall be required to pay a civil penalty to the

23

department of labor and training in an amount of no less than two thousand dollars ($2,000) and

24

not greater than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) per representation.

25

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2015 and shall be effective for all

26

contracts entered into on and after January 1, 2015 by the state and any quasi-governmental

27

agency. This act shall further be effective for all contracts entered into by any municipality on or

28

after April 30, 2016.

========

LC004036

========

 

LC004036 - Page 5 of 6

EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR -- APPRENTICESHIP

***

1

     This act would require that all bidders responding to an invitation to bid on a public

2

works project would have an apprenticeship program, and that no less than fifteen percent (15%)

3

of the project's labor hours be performed by apprentices in this program.

4

     This act would take effect on January 1, 2015 and would be effective for all contracts

5

entered into on and after January 1, 2015.

========

LC004036

========

 

LC004036 - Page 6 of 6